The invention relates to tunneling machines and other boring and cutting machines provided with tools for detaching materials from a wall located in front of the machine.
Such machines are used for boring a tunnel or similar, totally or partially underground, or for mining or digging.
Some machines are provided with a device for removing materials cutted from the wall, as disclosed in the French Patent No. 1 597 434 for instance.
This Patent discloses a tunneling machines which comprises a movable frame carrying a head rotatably driven about a longitudinal and approximately horizontal axis and provided with cutting tools, this head also carrying buckets located between the tools, each bucket picking up the materials when it passes in a lower position and further dumping the materials to a conveyor when the bucket passes in an upper position.
Such a tunneling machine is too bulky to be usable when the diameter of the gallery is small, say 2 to 3 meters.